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Update on Kawasaki/Suzuki merger

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N

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Discussion Starter · #1 ·
I suppose this whole Kawazuki deal is good if it keeps both companies in the bike business, but I suspect it will ultimately result in fewer choices for new bike buyers. But, who knows, maybe they'll come out with a W 650 powered by a Boost King engine.
 
A

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#2 ·
What the hell? I thought they said they were going to keep Kawasaki and Suzuki motorcycle brands separate. Or are they? And just going to start a new brand? I don't care a whole lot about the rest of their businesses, since I'm not an enthusiast of large ships and economy cars. I'm not a die hard fan of any particular company (even tho I have two Suzukis), but it would be nice to see Suzuki and Kawasaki maintain some sort of heritage. If anything, they should at least keep their sport bike lines separate, since it seems that this is the segment with most brand-loyal customers among these two companies. I know it says they're just going to release one bike under a new brand, but could this spell the beginning of the end of the two brands? I hope not.
 
E

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#3 ·
It sounds like they are going to become some sort of horrible "General Motors"-type hybrid... but it will actually be the same as some other motorcycle.

I can see it now:

eruption-"That bike is just Kawi's sport bike with a different fairing, more stickers and a higher priuce!"

anonymous squid-"No way man-It's TOTALLY different.. dude!"
 
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#4 ·
Re: Kawasaki/Suzuki merger

The solution? Just buy a Honda......

As for the GM branding analogy made by a poster above, I hope it doesn't get that bad. Remember, though, GM is an American car company. These are Japanese companies, which tend to make smarter decisions regarding their vehicles.
 
S

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#5 ·
Re: Kawasaki/Suzuki merger

It may appear that Japanese companies make smarter decisions. The reality is products for the export market are tested on the domestic market first, and either not exported or fine-tuned. That in itself is a good strategy. My main point is that Toyota, Sony, Honda, Nikon, etc. sell just as many bad products to their domestic market as GM does here.
 
G

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#6 ·
Re: Kawasaki/Suzuki merger

Hmm, I disagree with buy a Honda but your comments about GM... well said!!!

Who knows what will ultimately happen but, if one thinks about what each company does well, there are not a lot of similiarities in my view:

Suzuki

Great super sport bikes

Good dual purpose

Bad cruisers

Light on sport tourers - 'busa and Kat

Kaw

No great hardcore supersport bikes (yeah the zx's are great bikes but not in the realm of R1 GSXR1 etc)

Best 'general purpose' bike - KLR

Awesome sport tourers (ZX12, 11, 6... and, dare I say it 9R?)

Really cool cruisers

I think a mix could be a great thing for this company.

My apologies to the 99.7% of the members of this board whom I've just ticked off royally ;-)
 
S

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#7 ·
You forgot something:

Suzuki:

Great bang-for-the-buck standards (SV650, B1200)

Kawasaki:

Great "refined" standards (ZR7S, W650, ZRX1200)

I think it would be interesting to see what happens to this category in a merger, as the two companies have drastically different characteristics to their standard-type motorcycles.

As to supersport bikes, I could see them continuing both the ZX line AND the GSXR line--just like Yamaha has the YZF600R (street-oriented supersport) and the YZF-R6 (track-oriented supersport).
 
E

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#8 ·
New liter bike?!

Hey, maybe now Kawasaki will run out of excuses for not building a new ZX-9R, or a GP1 bike, or (shock of shocks!) a new ZX-7RR! How old are those dinosaurs now? Hopefully they can accomplish two things at once by building a competitive liter bike that would be legal for WSB- if SBK ever get around to allowing Super Sport tuned liter bikes in, much like the British Superbike's coming season. For some strange reason, I am still holding out hope for Kawasaki... They are the underdog, and it would be cool to see them create a winning bike.
 
L

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#10 ·
New brand needs new name...let the contest begin

Suzukasaki

Kawazuki

Suzakuzi

Kuwasuzi

Sawukazi

Kazuzuski

Sazikusi

Kuzasazaka

Sazukuki

Kakusuka

Sukazaski

Oh this this could go on forever... I'm feeling some sushi!!!! mmmm tasty
 
A

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#17 ·
Re: New brand needs new name...let the contest begin

Well, at least the Japanese don't name their bikes like they do their concept cars. I can't recall any exactly off the top of my head, but I do remember one show car called something like the "Super Pop Joy Turbo" or something bizzare like that. I guess that's what you get when you use electronic translators. The alpha-numeric model designations work fine for me.
 
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